


Before the Storm

by Truly_Hopeless



Series: Death Note: Legacy (Odds and Ends) [1]
Category: Death Note (2017), Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Bullying, Fighting, Mentioned Character Death, Name Changes, Rewrite, Scheming, Swearing, Teen Angst, Tie-In to Larger Story In Works
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25374562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Truly_Hopeless/pseuds/Truly_Hopeless
Summary: A glimpse into the lives of the main characters before the conflict begins.Did some rewrites to the first chapter since I wasn't completely happy with it.
Series: Death Note: Legacy (Odds and Ends) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837567





	Before the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> This is influenced by a project I'm working on with my boyfriend and several other people. It's a fanfic radio drama called Death Note: Legacy, and the idea is that Death Notes are real, the characters from the manga have real-life counterparts and that L bested Light without having to die and is still looking for other Kiras to prevent the truth about Death Notes from getting out to the public.
> 
> The story begins in 2017 and the characters we will be following are influenced by the Netflix versions of the characters (though I am altering them so that they will [hopefully] be better characters; personalities, motives, names, possibly appearances too, whatever needs to be changed). The original cast will also be appearing, as well as characters based off of those appearing in other spin-offs/adaptations and some original characters.
> 
> The project is on a bit of a hiatus since we're waiting on callback submissions for L and the actor voicing both Light (in flashbacks) and Ryuk is currently unable to access his computer and microphone, but all three of the main characters have been cast and we also have other people involved. If you yourself are interested in getting involved (especially if you are a voice actor), please keep an eye out for when there is an update to the project.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the life of Xain Turner.

Wake up, get ready for the day, try to get through it without arguing with anyone, tutor students for money if he has any requests, go home, avoid arguing with Dad over dinner, do his homework, play with Ashe while watching an anime, try to sleep as the trains pass in the night. Rinse and repeat until he can move out and doesn’t have to go to school anymore.

This has been Xain Turner’s life for almost a year now, after his mother’s death and the lawsuit from her killer ruined _everything_.

On some days, he was able to follow the plan without incident; he knew where in school to go to avoid the people who would make him angry, generally got along well with his teachers, and had Riley sitting beside him in most classes to crack jokes with and watch anime with on the weekends to help block out the world. And Dad usually wouldn’t get angry at him unless he got in trouble at school, so on a good day he was able to keep his head down at home.

On other days however…

_“Seriously, Xain? Do you ever look in a mirror when you’re getting ready?”_

_“Oh how cute! Turner and Hansen are eating lunch together! When’s the wedding?”_

_“I’m sorry, did I hurt your feelings? Do you need to talk to your mom?”_

Often leading to…

_“Mr. Turner, keep your voice down; you’re disrupting class.”_

_“We do not use that language here, Xain! If I hear you say that again, I’m calling your father.”_

_“Turner! Apologize right now!”_

Which inevitably lead to…

_“Xain, why can’t you behave at school? Your mom wouldn’t want you acting like this. How do you expect to survive in the real world if you blow up at every little thing?”_

Of course, he had bad days while Mom was still with them, but those days didn’t happen as often, she wasn’t as harsh as Dad was when he was in the wrong and would take Xain’s side when the school was at fault. Now that she was gone, almost no one was on his side and he was seen as one of many easy targets since the worst he could do was glare or be rude in return.

He just wanted to get away from everything. He didn’t know what life he would lead, what career he wanted to pursue or if he would even go to college; he just knew that almost _anything_ would be better than what he was currently dealing with.

* * *

**North Seattle High School, Thursday, August 24, 2017**

“Hey, Xain! So, our first week of senior year is almost over! How are we feeling?"

"Honestly, apart from you, I'll just be happy to never see any of these people again."

Riley ran a hand through his black curls before smirking at Xain.

“Come on, you know that's a lie. You're going to miss ogling the cheerleaders while pretending to study.”

“ _Riley_!”

“My mistake; you'll miss ogling _one_ cheerleader. What was her name again? Veronica?”

“Wynona. But I don’t ‘ogle’ her.”

“Whatever, the point is that you’re clearly into her. So why aren’t you asking her out? She’s been single for six months now and from what I’ve seen and heard, she’d be perfect for you. Just invite her to the movies sometime.”

“First of all, I don’t have time for dates; I need to make sure that _this_ is my last year in the Snake Pit so I have to keep my grades up. Second, while I admit that I think Wynona is pretty, I doubt she'd be interested in some dork who keeps getting trouble with teachers. And lastly, even if she did want to date me, Christian already hates me for stupid things so I don’t want to know what he’d do if he actually had a reason to go after me.”

Riley scoffed.

“You seriously care what that moron thinks? What’s he going to do if his ex starts going out with you? Try to kill you? In public? In front of her, the other cheerleaders, and his teammates on the football team? Last time I checked, that didn’t win you any popularity points and if he weren’t straight and white he'd definitely get his ass kicked by the cops. Please, just talk to her once before we graduate! At the very least, I'm sure she'll be willing to do more than eat all your Pop-Tarts while mocking bad anime with you.”

Xain sighed.

“I’ll try.”

As they were walking back to class, they heard a commotion in the hallway.

“Kenny! Please give Joe his homework back!”

“And what are you going to do about it, Jessibel?”

The strawberry blonde girl bristled at this.

“That is not my name. Give the homework back before I report you.”

The girl approached Kenny and tried to take the paper clutched in Kenny’s fist, but the boy punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground.

Xain felt anger rise up inside him and Riley sensed it too since he was trying to pull Xain away.

“Come on, we’ll be late for class.” The girl reached up a hand to touch the spot where she had been hit. “This doesn’t concern us, we should just move along.” She was trying very hard not to cry and was shaking a lot. “She'll be fine, someone else will take care of this.”

But Xain had already pulled away from his friend and stood between the girl and Kenny, who looked like he was about to hit her again. The girl was helped up and pulled away by another girl, who Xain recognized belatedly as Wynona.

“Get out of my way.”

“You don’t hit people. You don’t hit girls, you don’t hit minors, you don’t hit anyone. Give the homework back and don’t ever do that again unless you want to end up on a list.”

“Are you threatening me?!”

“No, I’m just stating a fact. You’re 19 and most of us are under 18, so, unless you are defending yourself from an attack, you’re legally not allowed to lay a hand on them.”

“’You’re legally not allowed to lay a hand on them!’” Kenny mocked. “Like fuck I can’t! Stay out of my way or I’ll make sure your mom won’t be able to recognize you. Oh, wait, you don’t have a mom!”

“At least my mom cared about me; your mom clearly doesn’t since you’re repeating senior year for the third time now without any sign of improvement.”

It was a low blow, and Xain knew it, but in that instant he did not care and almost laughed at how Kenny's face twisted in anger after having that detail pointed out to him.

“FUCK YOU!”

Kenny’s fist collided with Xain’s jaw. Xain fell to the ground, his head colliding with the locker.

Kenny approached him, ready to hit him again, but Xain swept a leg beneath Kenny’s legs, knocking him to the ground.

“XAIN!” Riley shouted over the other kids, who were all reacting to this development in various ways, with many either already filming or beginning to take out their phones to film Kenny and Xain. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!”

Xain would have, but he was yanked back by his hair by Kenny and Xain responded by kicking him in the nose.

* * *

**Shinigami Realm**

“You still looking for potential people to give the Death Note to?”

Natosu looked away from the fight between the two boys to turn to Ryuk.

“Of course. Two of the Death Notes are bound to be destroyed soon and if we’re going to win this contest together, I need to know about any and all potential users so that we can prepare for any setbacks. The last thing I’d want is another trigger-happy lunatic like Junko to have it. Or worse, one more person who ends up siding with L and give the Death Note up instead of using it.”

Ryuk watched as the fight was finally broken up by two teachers who all but dragged both boys to the principal’s office, one appearing more apologetic than the other.

“So what do you think of Turner?”

“The anger at the various systems that have let him and others down is there as well as the desire for change, but there is not much drive to do anything about it other than complain. Plus, his reputation would likely get him found out pretty quickly unless he has someone helping him and at present, he has no one.” He pointed to Riley, who had bolted the moment the fight had gotten worse and went to the very back of the class instead of sitting in the front so that certain peers wouldn’t mock him for his sexuality or ask him where his “boyfriend” was. “You’re free to pursue him if you’d like, but he will not be my first choice on who to give a Death Note to.”


End file.
